I intended to stay up-to-date on my Best of WWE this year. Also intended to keep up last year, and then intended to do a year-end deal last year, and then finished 3/4 of it and quit. So yeah, I suck. But here I go again.
CM Punk vs. John Cena - House Show in Oklahoma City, OK - 3/13/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GZgzyjAqDyI
Punk rules the world during the pre-match. Mason Ryan yells in Welsh which Punk translates as a declaration that Punk himself is the greatest man in the world. Then he smarmily rants about his love for OKC and his plans to buy real estate there after beating Cena. He gets heat, puts over his match with Cena, and sells his Mania match with Orton. And after Cena's intro, he flips into the ring, smiles, and draws out his removal of his shirt. It's amazing. The match itself is a blast, too, about on par with their great TV matches from early in the year. Punk's early antics are great, and his control segment, focused on Cena's neck, is plenty good and has tons of Mason Ryan interference. Cena busts out great strength spots. It basically has all the strengths of their TV matches, plus more Punk playing with the crowd. The finish is great, too, just the kind of triumph you want at a house show.
ADDED:
#3: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio - Capitol Punishment 6/19/11
These two have incredible chemistry and have had enough matches together that they can work a match centered on familiarity and have it work brilliantly. This one came close to their best matches from last year, and they definitely had the feud of the year in 2010. Opening is a tad slow, but then Rey teases a 619 and Punk dodges only to eat a baseball slide that knocks him outside. Rey goes for a senton off the apron, but Punk catches him and tosses him face-first onto the rail. Not quite as awesome as that transition spot in their 2/12/10 match, but close. Punk then works the ribs and it's great even though the announcers can't figure out what to call a bodyscissors. Rey gets in great hope spots and Punk becomes gradually more aggressive with his 619 counters. Rey does successfully connect with a 619 in the counter after Punk went shoulder-first into the ring post, which looked awesome. There's an incredible exchange of dodged and blocked kicks that must be seen, and it works perfectly due to their familiarity. The whole stretch run is beautifully executed and plays off their history together, and the finish is terrific. Tons of great near-falls and plenty of heat. Awesome match.
ADDED:
#1: CM Punk vs. John Cena - Money in the Bank 7/17/11
What a special match. Chicago crowd is nuts, totally pro-Punk and preposterously anti-Cena. The entrances and intros are stunning. The start slow, which works: both guys understand the stakes and don't want to make mistakes. The matwork at the start is awesome: slow but physical and natural and with strong psych. Not basic limb stuff, but each guy has his strengths and plays to them and tries to avoid his opponent's strengths. Cena is strong but Punk has the kicks & the quicks, basically. They put over Punk's dangerous legs early and play to that throughout the match. The crowd rules throughout this stuff, and Punk plays with them brilliantly during the "You can't wrestle!" chants. Match builds slowly and takes off on Punk's botched crossbody, which turned out to be the best thing ever. He hit Cena's knee, and Cena sold that knee throughout the match. That also led to Cena hitting on awesome suplex on the outside, and from there, Cena worked from the top for the most part. He added a bunch to his arsenal and really went to town on Punk, and Punk turned in his best babyface performance ever. His comebacks are awesome, particularly one where he hits a Savage knee to the back to knock Cena on the outside, yells "Chicago!" and then hits his best dive ever and high-fives his mom. Incredible. But his facial expressions throughout are so great: the desperation, the need to win, and the selling of exhaustion are all terrific. Cena is great, too, selling the knee often enough and reacting to Punk's kickouts. Punk takes more than anyone has and Cena finally loses it and chews out the ref, which was un-Cena-like & perfect. Punk's counter to the desperation top-rope AA attempt was awesome as was the whole finish, which protected both guys and let us see Johnny Ace get punched in the face. Minor execution issues aside, this match was perfect and one of the best WWE matches ever. Both guys threw everything they had and more, busting out a bunch of new stuff, including Punk's awesome variation of his running knee where he hits it against the ropes rather than the corner. There were a bunch of awesome strikes, a bunch of great selling, one of the best crowds ever, and it all tied into one of the best angles the WWE has put together, surrounding two of its biggest & best characters and also two of its best workers, and possibly the best pairing in current wrestling.
ADDED:
#2: John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio - Raw 7/25/11
Red-hot, fresh, and terrific. They establish the strength vs. speed dynamic early and explore it brilliantly throughout the match. Rey hacks at Cena's legs with kicks, and they're terrific kicks, the best I've seen from Rey, and the addition of such great strikes makes Rey even better, which I wouldn't have thought possible. But every time Cena gets murderous every time he catches Rey. He destroys Rey on the outside with a clothesline and then bullies him for a while. Every time Rey gets going he busts out slick stuff, cool counters, etc, and Cena comes back with awesome strength spots. The whole stretch run is terrific and features a bunch of cool stuff plus great selling from Cena. The spot where Rey counters an STF with an STF only have Cena power out of it, only to have Cena collapse on his bum knee: that was amazing. A terrific title match, and it's strange they chose to give it away for free.
Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST
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